INTRO: THE “PROPHET” ABRAHAM LIES ABOUT HIS WIFE SARAH
Gen 20:1-9, 17 – Main Bible Passage for the Sermon
During this event in their journey in Gerar, Abraham is about 99 years old, and Sarah is about 90 years of age. Even though she is an aged lady, Sarah was a very beautiful woman to look upon (this is the result of the blessings of the righteous by faith). Abraham lied to King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister. As a result, Abimelech takes Sarah into his harem with the risk of her committing adultery – and all this was done by Abraham for what? To preserve his own life – utterly selfish!! This clearly is not God-pleasing. That night, God appears to Abimelech in a dream and warns him that Sarah was the wife of Abraham and that he will lose his life if he doesn’t give her back to her husband, along with the lives of his men.
My first thought was, of course, Lord, you got the wrong one! If someone has got to be warned in a terrified way, it must be Abraham: he is the lousy husband!! But never once does God rebuke Abraham or punish him for not defending his wife and protecting her with his life.
Point to Remember > Sin is not imputed to you when you have been made righteous by faith.
Imagine the plight of Sarah in this story: her own husband, who must protect her with his life, is now putting her at risk of sexual immorality. But God didn’t fail her. He warned the King not to touch her and thereby guarded her honor and body.
Point to Remember > When everything fails, you can still bank upon God: He will never fail you.
Abimelech cried out to God, saying, “I did this in the integrity of my heart and clean hands”. God tells him – that’s why I kept you from sinning against me. Wow! This gives us a very important insight into how to overcome sin and live holy – maintain a heart of integrity before God.
Point to Remember > When you guard your heart with integrity, God will keep you from sin.
Yet the most striking question is how can this Abraham, the lousy and irresponsible husband, flow in the anointing to pray for the healing of Abimelech and his people? There is nothing prophetic about his actions, pathetic maybe, but nothing “prophetic”. It is not just about Abraham but about so many wonderful men and women of God who have been used mightily by Him, only to later be exposed with a scandal. Even though they had issues in their character, the anointing of God continued to flow and bless many. This is how – Get this very important truth about the anointing of the Holy Spirit:
TRUTH #1 – THE ANOINTING FLOWS BY IDENTITY, NOT BY CHARACTER.
A lot of us feel like we ought to be perfect in order to flow in the anointing. You don’t need a good character to start moving in the supernatural: you only need to go by your identity. You are righteous by the blood, you are sanctified, you are a child of God, you are anointed, and you are called. If you can believe in the truth about who you are in Christ Jesus, you can flow in the anointing regardless of the issues in your character that you are trusting in God to change.
Jesus tells his disciples: “These signs that follow those who believe, not those who are perfect. “In my name they shall cast out demons” – not in the name of their holiness or perfect character. “If they drink poison, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk 16:17). Gal 3:5 says “The Spirit and the miracles are not through the law but by hearing of faith”. The anointing flows by faith, not by the character of the one who does the praying.
TRUTH #2 – PERFECTION IS NOT REQUIRED TO OPERATE IN THE ANOINTING.
“What about spiritual maturity?” Somebody asks. Don’t believers have to grow in their spiritual maturity in order to flow in the anointing? No, they don’t! This mistake was not made by Abraham for the first time in his life. He made the same mistake about 24 years ago (Read Gen 12:13) when they were in Egypt. And yet 24 years later, we see that Abraham has not grown in this area of defending his wife. This goes to show that one can be spiritually immature and still operate in gifts because they are gifts.
TRUTH #3 – SPIRITUAL MATURITY IS NOT A PRE-REQUISITE FOR SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
The Corinthian church lacked spiritual maturity: They were suing one another in court, abusing communion, and involved in sexual misbehavior. But this church is functional in its gifts. But Paul wrote to them saying – So that you come short in no gift (1 Cor 1:7).
Since anointing flows out of your identity and not your character, should you ignore your character issues? Of course not! Firstly, you are a child of God, and you have to live like Jesus in his character with the help of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, your character issues will not limit the anointing.
TRUTH #4 – THE FLAWS & ISSUES IN YOUR CHARACTER CANNOT LIMIT YOUR ANOINTING, BUT THEY CAN LIMIT YOUR CALLING.
Moses had an anointing on his life; he performed amazing miracles and feats for the glory of God and the deliverance of his people. He had a character flaw that he failed to deal with and overcome – he had anger issues:
>>In anger, he killed an Egyptian.
>>In anger, he broke the tablets of the 10 commandments that God gave him.
>>In anger, he hit the rock when he should’ve spoken to it.
These character issues limited his calling – He couldn’t go as far as God had intended him to go. He died on Mt Nebo when he could’ve led Israel right into the land flowing with milk and honey. Don’t ignore your character flaws; work on your character.
Point to Remember > Work on your character by working on your intimacy with the Holy.
CONCLUSION: GO BY YOUR IDENTITY
One must not ignore their character flaws, but having said that, you should not ignore the truth that you can flow in the anointing because of who you are in Christ Jesus. Your identity in Christ Jesus is not contingent upon your character or your performance – it works based on faith, and if you can believe God to use you, you will see wonders in your life. God knows the cracks in your character, and while he works on them, He also knows how to use you for his glory along with those weaknesses.
This children’s fable that puts this truth across so beautifully –
→ An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots that hung on two ends of a pole that rested on her shoulders. Every day, she would walk down to the stream to get some fresh water. One of the pots had a small crack, and by the time she reached home, it contained only half of the water she had filled in. The other pot was perfect. The perfect pot was very proud of its accomplishments, but this pot with a crack felt a little embarrassed. One day, it said to the elderly woman, “I feel really bad that I don’t measure up”. The woman said, “Have you noticed that there are flowers on your side of the path only where the water has leaked out? That’s because I have always known about your flaws, so I have planted seeds on your side, and every day we return from the stream, you water those flowers which have now decorated my house”. God knows how to use cracked pots.
Here’s a real-life testimony as we bring home this sermon on how the anointing flows through the identity:
→ A missionary was called to preach in the jungles of South America. There was strong opposition in one of the villages. Witch doctors in the area performed intense witchcraft. One day, as the missionary was standing by the river and brushing her teeth, a massive anaconda was coming towards her. Before she could notice and run away, the anaconda grabbed her hand and began to constrict her. The witch doctors were watching from a distance, celebrating. The missionary knew that she was protected by the name of Jesus. She began to say the name of Jesus over and over again. Suddenly, the snake began to loosen its grip upon her skin. It released her and quietly went back into the water. The witch doctors came running up to her. They questioned how, and she said, “You can do anything you want, but every power of darkness is already under my feet through Jesus!” The witch doctors repented and gave their lives to Jesus. Today, three of them go around the jungles of South America preaching the gospel.
Beloved, as you walk in faith knowing who you are in Christ Jesus, I believe and declare that the anointing in your life will flow mightily as a river and you will see bondages being broken in your life and in the life of those around you in the days to come in Jesus’ Name!